Antiwheel slide device



Dec. 31, 1940. C, EKSERGIAN 2,226,557

ANTIWHEEL SLIDE DEVICE Filed May 3l, 1939 INVENTOR:

A TTORNE Y Patented Dec. 31, i940 PATENT OFFICE ANTIWHEEL SLIDE DEVICE Carolus I.. Ekaergian, Detroit. Mich.. allltllor to Budd Wheel Company. Philadelphia, Pa., a oorporation of Penn Application May 31, 1939, Serial No. 276,576

9Claims.

'I'he present invention relates to means for preventing wheel slide when brakes are applied to vehicle wheels.

More specifically, the invention relates to ve- 6 hicles, such as railway rolling stock or heavy trucks, buses, and the like, wherein air brakes are generally used, the purpose of the invention being to prevent the wheels of the vehicle from slipping on the track or on the road, as the case l may be, when the braking eilort is excessive.

'I'he invention is'applicable especially in connection with brake mechanism which has a torque arm that moves in response to the'braking torque, particularly brakes having a torque arm of the type disclosed in co-pendingapplication Serial No. 198,398.

When the free end of the torque arm in a brake of this type is provided with means of suitable kind to provide an increasing resistance to 2 its motion, such as a spring or springs of deilni-te strength or the like, the said yieldable means will be actuated suddenly when the torque drops rapidly, as happens when the wheels slide or are about to slide, and therefore the present invention provides means correlated with the said torque arm and so arranged that a sudden shift of the free end of the torque arm, in the direction corresponding to decreasing torque, will actuate appropriate control mechanism associated with the brakes, while a rapid movement of the torque arm in the other direction or a slow movement of the torque arm in either direction, such as would be produced by normal variations of the braking torque, will leave the said control mechanism unaffected.

Thereby when a sudden drop in the torque occurs, correcting means will be actuated to release the brakes, wholly or partially, until the wheels no longer slide or tend to slide, whereupon 4 the normal braking action is resumed automatically.

'I'he above results may be accomplished in various ways, but in a preferred form of the invention electrical switches are provided which cooperate with the mechanism actuated by the torque arm, so as to control the brake action and, furthermore, manual control of the braking action may also be provided for emergency use in o case the electrical system fails in any way.

Two forms illustrative of the invention are described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

In said drawing:

u Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of one device embodying the invention, certain parts being shown in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a modined form.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the brake cylinders Il are shown connected through the branch pipes l I with 'the main conduit i3. It will be understood that preferably these brakes are of the general type disclosed in application Serial No. 198,398. The torque arm 34, only the extreme or free end of which is shown here, enters a protective 10 casing I8 which may be suitably secured to any relatively stationary part of the vehicle, here designated by 35. The casing 38 has an opening 39 of ample size to permit the necessary range of movement of the free end of the torque arm 34 15 in an up or down direction, as indicated by the double pointed arrow. A sealing membrane or diaphragm 40, having suitable flexibility, covers the opening I9 and engages the torque arm 34, in order to prevent the entrance of water, dirt or other foreign matter into the casing 38, so that the mechanism enclosed therein will not be affected by such foreign matter.

Two springs 31 of suitable known streng-th may be arranged in the casing ll, so as to bear upon both sides of the free end of the torque arm I4 and maintain it normally in the neutral or central position indicated in the diagram. A flexible element such as a cord, wire, cable, chain, or the like indicated at 61 is secured to the end of the 30 torque arm as shown at I and passes out through an opening 1I in the casing 38, and thence over the pulley 'III vpivoted at 2.

'I'his tension member 61 is secured to the rod 3, slidably mounted in the .bearing 4 which forms 35 part of, or is secured to, any suitable base 5. 'Ihe base 5 carries at its other end another bearing member 4 wherein slides a second rod 1. 'I'he bearing member 4 may have a flat flange thereon as shown at 8, and also a tubular extension 9 sur- 40 rounding the rod 3. A flange or disk I4 is secured in any suitable way to the other end of the rod 3, and a spring 4B bears against the flanges 8 and I4, so as to urge them apart, this spring being of sufllcient internal diameter to slip easily over the tubular extension 9, which thus serves as a guide for both the rod 3 and the spring 68, to assure smoothness of motion.

A flexible but gas-,tight lbellows member 2| is secured at one end of the peripheral surface of the disk or flange I4 and the other end of the bellows is similarly secured to another disk or flange 22 mounted upon one end of a rod 1. The rod 1 also carries an additional disk 23 at its other end, and a spring 24 surrounds the rod, as 55 well as a tubular extension 2l of the bearing l, so that it will urge the disk 2l away from the flange 2l on the bearing member l. The disk 22 is solid, that is, free from any openings, but a suitable small vent 21 is preferablyprovided in the disk Il to allow slow passage of air into and out of the bellows 2|. and a check valve 2l is also provided in the said disk, this check valve allowing air to escape from the the bellows but preventing any return thereof.

The disk 23 is of suitable diameter to project beyond the outside diameter of the spring 24 so that it may actuate electrical contacts arranged in proximity to such spring and disk, as indicated at 2l and 20 above the spring, and at 2| and 22 below the spring, respectively. These contacts serve to control relay windings u and 45. the contacts 20 and 30 being connected to the coil Il through the conductors Il and 2l, and a battery or other source of energy I3 being inserted in .the conductor Il so that whenever the disk 2l causes contacts 2l and III to engage one another a current will be established vthrough the coil 4l.

Similarly, the contacts Il and 32 are connected to the winding u by the conductors 4I and 42 respectively, a suitable source of energy 41 being arranged in the conductor 4i so that when contacts ll and l2 are brought into engagement with one another by the disk 23 a current will be established in the winding Il.

It will be understood that the element Il is an application valve which is normally open and when actuated will shut off the air pressure from pipe 42, which is under the control of the operator, to the brakes, whereas the device Il is the release valve, which will release the air pressure through the relay valves I2 and i2a on the brake cylinders I0 by connected pipe ILto exhaust 12. The aggregate of elements l5, is, M and 4l thus constitutes an electrically operable relay for controlling the brake valves through the line Il.

A by-pass 12 connects the pipe IB with the air pipe Il, and a check valve 14 preferably is provided therein and so arranged that while air can now from II into Il through the check valve, flow in the opposite direction will be prevented by the said valve. The pipe I8 will supply air to the branch pipes I1 and I1a which latter will feed the relay valves, I2 and I2a respectively, which are connected by the short pipes or lines I9 and Ila to the conduits Il leading to the brake cylinders Il.

The relay I2a may be of the conventional type while the relay l2 preferably may have cooperating therewith an infinitely variable type of connection 2l, 89 such as is disclosed for example in Fig. 4 of copending applicationSerial No. 271.081, or in certain other ngures of said copending case. This'difference in the relays l2 and I2a makes it possible to control one set of brakes differently from the other, that is, to produce a greater braking elect by one or the other as may be expedient in practice and further details of this feature are given in the copending case above referred to.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the present case it will be understood that many of the elements are or may be exactly the same as those in Fig. 1 and these partshave been in large part omitted and where shown are all designated by the same reference characters in the two gures so that it is unnecessary again to describe them.

'I'he difference between the two forms. of apparatus disclosed in the present speciilcation resides in the type of contact controlling mechanism used. In Fig. 2 the ilexible member l1 is connected to a rod ll which extends into the cylinder 4I and terminates in a piston u, shown as consisting of two cupped washers Il and Il of more or less conventional type cooperating with the bore of the cylinder 4I. A spring l2 arranged around the rod and within the cylinder is under compression and urges the piston to the right, and conversely urges the cylinder 4l to the left, as shown. A small-vent Il, formed in the right hand end of the cylinder u, permits slow passages oi' air or other gas in either direction, while a check valve 5i is also provided to allow air to escape from the cylinder 4l but to prevent its reentry.

'I'he cylinder 4l may have a loosely fitting guide Il for the rod u to permit leakages of air to and from its left hand end for the same purpose and may also have a port 1l in said end for the same purpose, the other end of the rod being suitably guided within the cylinder by the piston. A bore 81 and another bore I8 in alignment therewith, may be formed in the bifurcated member Il which has the left bearing arm Il and the right bearing arm 6i wherein said bores are formed.

A tubular member or ring l2 may engage the outside of the cylinder Il firmly or even may be secured thereto rigidly in any desired manner, and this tubular member carries an annular ilange 02 which extends somewhat beyond the outer diameter of the spring I4. 'Ihis spring, which is under compression, passes over the tubular member 82 and bears at one end against a surface of the flange Il, in turn forcing the other surface of the flange Il against the end il of the arm 8i while the other end of the spring 64 bears against the end 8l of the arm lll.

In operation, referring first to the Fig. 1 form, when the torque arm 3l moves slowly up or down, under the control of the braking eiort and controlled also by the springs 21-31, the movement of the free end of said arm will be communicated through the tension member $1 to the rod t and thereby the bellows 2| will be slowly extended due to pull on 61 or collapsed by the spring Il as the case may be, since the air contained within the bellows may escape readily through the vent 21 or conversely outside air may enter so that in either case when the motion of the torque arm is relatively slow and small, the sole eiect will be a corresponding extension or compression of the bellows member.

A sudden upward movement of the free end of the torque arm Il, which corresponds to a rapid increase of braking eilort, will release the tension member I1 and thereupon the spring 6I will tend to collapse the bellows, the air contained in said bellows escaping rapidly through the check valve 28, which opens outwardly, in addition to escaping through the small vent 21, so that in this case again no effect will be produced other than a more or less sudden collapse of the bellows.

On the contrary, should the free end of the torque arm Il descend suddenly, which corresponds to a sudden drop in the brakingtorque, such as would occur when the wheels slide or are about to slide on the track or on the roadway, due to the greatly diminished sliding friction as compared with the static friction existing when no slippage occurs the tension member t1 will attempt to expand or distend the bellows suddenly. However, due to the relative smallness of the vent 21. it will be impossible for the outer air to enter the bellows rapidly enough to permit this action to occur and, of course. the check valve 26 which opens only outwardly will not allow any additional air to enter the bellows. 'I'he result, therefore, is that the bellows will not 5 be capable of sudden inilation or extension of its length and, therefore, the sudden pull of the tens ile member 61 will move the bellows 2| as a whole to the left from the position shown in Fig. l. This will cause the rod 1 secured to the right hand end of the bellows to move to the left an to carry along with it the disk 23.

The' disk 23, upon moving to the left from the position shown in Fig. 1 will rst encounter the contact 32 and move it into electrical connection with the contact 3|, thus -actuating the relay winding 44 and causing the application valve A to discontinue supplying pressure to the line I6. This happens relatively quickly and upon further motion of the disk 23 in the same direction said disk will next bring contact 36 into electrical connection with contact 29, thus energizing the relay coil 46 in its turn and thereby operating the relief valve R to release the pressure in the line I6, thus releasing the pressure on the brakes. This release of pressure will reduce the braking torque and stop the wheel slide.

Shortly after this actuation of the disk 23 the spring 24 will return it to its initial position by causing air to enter into the bellows 2| through the vent 21, whereupon the apparatus will be in condition to repeat its operation whenever necessary.

The next operation of the free end of the torque arm 34 will presumably be a gradual or 35 sudden upward movement thereof as the normal braking is again resumed, which also will help to restore the bellows 2| to its normal condition, with the assistance of the spring 56.

In case the control valves A, R fail to operate properly, the upwardly opening check valve 14, in line 13, may also serve to release the pressure from the line |6 if the operatorv at the same time reduces the pressure in the control line 43. l

Referring now to the form of device illustrated in Fig. 2, it will be noted that this form is practically identical with the Fig. 1 form in all respects except for the structure of the mechanism controlled by the tension transmitting member 61, which mechanism here comprises a cylinder and piston in place of the bellows device. of Fig. l.

A downward pull on the tensile member 61 will pull the rod 46 and the piston 46 connected thereto toward the left from the position shown in Fig. 2 and will thus compress the air or gas contained in cylinder 46, to the left of the piston, which however will escape through the port 15. However, the check valve 65 opens outwardly so that when the piston moves to the left the o() air in the cylinder to the right of the piston will become correspondingly rareed except to the extent that outside air may leak in through the small vent 64 to equalize external and internal pressures.

55 Thus a slow downward movement of the tensileV member 61 will permit such equalization of pressures to occur, whereas a sudden pull will cause the piston to move too rapidly to permit prompt equalization of pressures, and therefore a 7C greater effort will be exerted on the cylinder by a sudden movement of the tension transmitting element 61 than by a gradual movement of the latter, because in the case of a sudden movement the outer air pressure will assist in forcing the 75 cylinder 46 to the left, because of the vacuum produced in the right hand end of the cylinder. This total force will sumce to overcome the force of thespring 64 so that the member 62, having the flange 63, will move to the left and successively close rst the contacts 32 and 3| and there- 5 upon the contacts 36 and 23, whereupon the same action is produced on the control valves A, R as in the Fig. 1 form.

This sudden pull on the tensile member 61, of course, will occur when the free end of the torque l0 arm 34 moves downward due to sudden failure or partial failure of braking torque when the wheels slide or are about to slide, just as in the previously described form of the device.

However, should the free end of the torque arm l5 34 move down slowly due to a gradually decreasing torque, such as would be produced in a normal stop, the air vent 64 will pevent the formation of a vacuumin the right hand end of the cylinder 46 and consequently the pneumatic 20 forces acting on the cylinder will not sumce to overcome the power of the spring 64 so that no actuation of the electrical contacts will take place.

Even when the torque arm 34 has moved down 25 suddenly, the cylinder will, of course, gradually resume the position shown in Fig. 2 as soon as sufilcient air has leaked in through the vent 64 to overcome the additional atmospheric pressure rst producedl due to the partial vacuum.. 30

When the torque arm 34 moves upwardly, of course, no actuation of the contacts takes place because the piston will move to the right and air compression will occur in the right hand end of the cylinder 46 but this compression if slow will 35 leak out with suillcient rapidity through the vent 54 and if sudden will leak out additionally through the check valve 65, so that no excessive force can exist in this end of the cylinder due to compression of the air, whether the piston moves 40 rapidly or slowly.

All the remaining parts of the system illustrated in Fig. 2 will, of course, operate exactly the same as they do in Fig. land in fact the two embodiments of the invention are identical with 45 the exception of the bellows structure of Fig. l and the cylinder and piston structure replacing it in Fig. 2, both of which accomplish the same general function in more or less the same way in principle. 50

Having described two preferred forms which the invention may take, it must be clearly understood that many other forms are possible and that the two forms selected for illustration are intended merely to explain the invention and not 55 in any Way to limit the scope thereof. The invention itself is deiined only by the following.

What I claim is:

l. Means for preventing wheel slide comprising a brake having a torque arm, yieldable means cooperating with said torque arm to cause its motion to be dependent upon the torque of the brake, and means operated by said torque arm to control the braking force, said means comprising an air compressing device including a check 65 valve and a small vent, and which responds to rapid motion of the torque arm in one direction but is relatively unaffected by sudden motion of the torque arm in the other direction or by slow motion of the arm in either direction.

2. Means for preventing wheel slide comprising a brake having a torque arm, yieldable means cooperating with said torque arm to cause its motion to be dependent upon the torque of the brake, and control means operated by said torque arm to control the braking force. said means comprising a pneumatic device which responds to rapid motion oi the torque arm in one direction by producing a pressure difference, but has pressure relietmeans for preventing such pressure diii'erence from being built up by sudden motion of the torque arm in the other direction or by slow motion oi' the arm in either direction.

3. Means for preventing wheel slide comprising a brake having a torque arm, spring means cooperating with said torque arm to cause its motion to be dependent upon the torque of the brake, control means, including a movable element, a motion-transmitting member operatively connecting said arm to said movable element, said control means comprising a pneumatic device having a gas chamber the volume of which is controlled by said movable element and which responds to rapid motion of the torque arm in one direction by varying the volume of the contained gas and thus producing a pressure dinerence, but which has a gas release means for preventing such pressure diierence from being built up by sudden motion of the torque arm in the other direction, and an electric circuit closer -controlled by said control means.

4. Means for preventing wheel slide comprising an air brake having a torque arm, yieldable means cooperating with said torque arm to cause its motion to be dependent upon the torque o! the brake, control means operated by said torque arm to control the braking force. said means comprising a pneumatic device which responds to rapid motion of the torque arm in one direction by producing a pressure difference, but has means for preventing such pressure diilerence from being built up by sudden motion oi' the torque arm in the other direction or by slow motion of the arm in either direction, an electric circuit, cooperating contacts therein, means mechanically actuated by the pneumatic device for operating said contacts, and an electrically-operable air valve connected to said circuit for controlling the brake.

5. Means for preventing wheel slide comprising a brake having a torque arm, spring means cooperating with said torque arm to cause its motion to be dependent upon the torque of the brake, control means, a motion-transmitting member operatively connecting said arm to said control means, said control means comprising a pneumatic device having a cylinder and piston providing a gas chamber oi' variable volume which responds to rapid motion of the torque arm in one direction by varying the volume o! the contained gas and thus producing a pressure diierence, but which has a gas release valve ior preventing such pressure diierence from being built up by sudden motion o! the torque arm in the other direction, a support for the cylinder, said cylinder being slidable in said support, and electric circuit clomng means operatively associated therewith and controlled by the sliding of said cylinder inl its support.

6. Means for preventing wheel slide comprismovement.

assess? ing a brake having a torque arm, spring means cooperating with said torque arm to cause its motion to be dependent upon the torque of the brake, control means, a` motion-transmitting member operatively connecting said arm to said control means, said control means comprising a pneumatic device having a bellows providing a gas chamber of variable volume which responds to rapid motion of the torque arm in one direction by varying the volume of the contained gas and thus producing a pressure difference. but which has a gas release valve for preventing such pressure diilerence from being built up by sudden motion oi' the torque arm in the other direction, said gas chamber being movable bodily in response to sumcient pressure difference, and electric circuit controlling means adjacent said chamber and operable upon said bodily movement thereof.

7. Means for preventing wheel slide, comprising a brake having a torque arm, spring means coooperating with said torque arm to cause its motion to be dependent upon the torque of the brake, control means. a motion-transmitting member operatively connecting s'aid arm to said control means, said control means comprising a pneumatic device having a cylinder and piston providing a gas chamber o! variable volume which responds to rapid motion of the torque arm in one direction by varying the volume oi the contained gas and thus producing a relatively great pressure diilerence, but which has a check valve for preventing such pressure diierence from being built up by sudden motion o! the torque arm in the other direction, and which also has a leakage vent of relatively small size, which allows the gas to escape with suilicient speed to prevent relatively slow motion of the piston from building up suilicient pressure diilerence to actuate the control means, a support for the cylinder, said cylinder being slidable in said support, and electric circuit closing means operatively associated therewith and controlled by the sliding of said cylinder in its support.

8. An anti-wheel slide device ior brakes comprising a member movable under the braking torque, yieldable means cooperating with said member causing its motion in either direction to be dependent upon the torque of the brake, means operated by said torque member to control the braking applying force in caseof wheel slide, said means comprising a device responsive to rapid motion oi'vthetorquexnember in one direction, due to decrease in torque incident to wheel slide, for reducing the braking force, said means being inoperative to affect the braking force by relatively slow movements of the torque arm in either direction.

9. An anti-wheel slide device according to claim 8 in which the control means comprises an electrically operated valve in the brake control line, the circuit for said electrically operated valve being controlled by the torque member cARoLUs L. EKSERGIAN. 

